Kane Clinches NSSS Opener at Mothar Mountain Speedway

03/01/11…NASR National Office
 
Darren Kane proved unstoppable during the opening round of the 2010/2011 Carline Mufflers National Super Sedan Series at Gympie’s Mothar Mountain Speedway last night, storming to victory ahead of Australian titleholder Jamie McHugh and defending series champ Mat Pascoe. Starting from pole position after an undefeated run through qualifying, Kane led every circulation of a torrid 35-lap feature race aboard his Ian Boettcher Race Parts Dominator-Mazda RX8.
 
In his first appearance upon his return to the NSSS fold, Victoria’s Lucas Roberts surged forward to finish a fine fourth after staring 14th, collecting the Supercharge Batteries Hard Charger Award for his efforts.  Dave Gartner salvaged a fifth-place finish after starting from row two before contact with McHugh saw him relegated to the rear during one of several opening lap restarts.  Townsville’s Trent Wilson advanced from 16th to sixth, with Bill Miller, Kevin Purton, Darren Lester and Brad Smith rounding out the top ten.   Local veteran Chris Albert and Des Korn were the only others from the 22-car field to go the distance. 
 
Lester was particularly impressive in his first ever NSSS appearance, qualifying on the third row and running strongly inside the top three before a stutter exiting turn two triggered a pile-up for which he was banished to the back of the depleted field with a handful of laps remaining. Steve Jordan was also running strongly inside the top five until a flat tyre ended his charge on lap 22.
 
On a night that saw good racing tempered by some spectacular crashes, success came to those who mastered the conditions and steered clear of the chaos unfolding around them.  Victoria’s Ashley Bergmeier made a spectacular exit when he climbed the wall and was sent somersaulting along the main straight.  Earlier in the night, three-time national champ Ron Pyne ended his night in the same spot when he also rode the concrete and crashed out.
 
Kane collected three heat wins, with McHugh filling the runner-up spot on each occasion in a preview of what was to come in the main event.  Other wins went to Pascoe, Bergmeier, Gartner, Korn, Shane Best and Tony Barklimore.  Best took out the B Main ahead of Wilson, Jarrod Harper, Colin Hockley and Sam Hughes.
 
When the Elf Racing Methanol-sponsored feature race finally got underway, Kane wasted little time in distancing himself from the field as McHugh found himself under pressure from Pascoe, who was soon joined by Lester and Jordan to form a three-pronged attack on the national champ. Despite several restarts, Kane remained in control throughout to emerge with a 67-point lead in the championship and win a Weber barbecue donated by the Gympie Saloon Car Club, who did a fantastic job to get this meeting run given the weather throughout Queensland over the last week.
 
CONTINGENCY WINNERS
Shock Doctor Lucky Sevens: Bill Miller
Supercharge Hard Charger: Lucas Roberts
Oval Express Best Presented Car and Crew: Mat Pascoe
Hoosier Bonus: Jamie McHugh
 
RESULTS  
Heat 1: 1. S23 Shane Best, 2. Q10 Steve Jordan, 3. Q15 Mat Pascoe, 4. Q77 Chris Albert, 5. T2 Jarrod Harper, 6. N63 Tony Barklimore, 7. N17 Lachlan Onley, 8. V0 Lucas Roberts, 9. V24 Dave Mackenzie. DNF – Q98 Michael Hally
Heat 2: 1. Q36 Darren Kane, 2. A1 Jamie McHugh, 3. S77 Bill Miller, 4. Q44 Trent Wilson, 5. Q17 Colin Hockley, 6. Q22 Dale Christensen, 7. T4 Sam Hughes. DNF – Q4 Mark Pagel. DNS – Q3 Graeme Elliott
Heat 3: 1. Q61 Des Korn, 2. T25 Kevin Purton, 3. S8 Dave Gartner, 4. V3 Michael Nicola, 5. V16 Ash Bergmeier, 6. Q59 Darren Lester, 7. T6 Brad Smith, 8. N9 Ron Pyne. DNF – Q97 Jason Campbell
Heat 4: 1. Q15 Mat Pascoe, 2. Q77 Chris Albert, 3. N17 Lachlan Onley, 4. T2 Jarrod Harper, 5. Q10 Steve Jordan, 6. V0 Lucas Roberts, 7. N63 Tony Barklimore, 8. V24 Dave Mackenzie. DNF – Q98 Michael Hally, S23 Shane Best
Heat 5: 1. Q36 Darren Kane, 2. A1 Jamie McHugh, 3. S77 Bill Miller, 4. Q44 Trent Wilson. DNF – T4 Sam Hughes, Q17 Colin Hockley, Q22 Dale Christensen. DNS – Q4 Mark Pagel, Q3 Graeme Elliott
Heat 6: 1. V16 Ash Bergmeier, 2. Q59 Darren Lester, 3. S8 Dave Gartner, 4. T6 Brad Smith, 5. V3 Michael Nicola, 6. Q61 Des Korn. DNF – T25 Kevin Purton. DNS – Q97 Jason Campbell, N9 Ron Pyne
Heat 7: 1. N63 Tony Barklimore, 2. V0 Lucas Roberts, 3. Q15 Mat Pascoe, 4. Q10 Steve Jordan, 5. T2 Jarrod Harper, 6. V24 David Mackenzie, 7. Q77 Chris Albert, 8. N17 Lachlan Onley
Heat 8: 1. Q36 Darren Kane, 2. A1 Jamie Mchugh, 3. T4 Sam Hughes, 4. Q17 Colin Hockley, 5. Q44 Trent Wilson, 6. S77 Bill Miller. DNS – Q3 Graeme Elliott, Q4 Mark Pagel, Q22 Dale Christensen
Heat 9: 1. S8 Dave Gartner, 2. Q59 Darren Lester, 3. V3 Michael Nicola, 4. T25 Kevin Purton, 5. V16 Ash Bergmeier, 6. Q61 des Korn. DNF – N9 Ron Pyne, T6 Brad Smith
B Main: 1. S23 Shane Best, 2. Q44 Trent Wilson, 3. T2 Jarrod Harper, 4. Q17 Colin Hockley, 5. T4 Sam Hughes, 6. Q22 Dale Christensen, 7. T6 Brad Smith, 8. N17 Lachlan Onley, 9. V24 David Mackenzie, 10. Q98 Michael Hally
Elf Racing Methanol Feature Race:  1. Q36 Darren Kane, 2. A1 Jamie McHugh, 3. Q15 Mat Pascoe, 4. V0 Lucas Roberts, 5. S8 Dave Gartner, 6. Q44 Trent Wilson, 7. S77 Bill Miller, 8. T25 Kevin Purton, 9. Q59 Darren Lester, 10. T6 Brad Smith, 11. Q77 Chris Albert, 12. Q61 Des Korn. DNF – Q10 Steve Jordan, N63 Tony Barklimore, V3 Michael Nicola, Q98 Michael Hally, T2 Jarrod Harper, V16 Ash Bergmeier, Q17 Colin Hockley, Q22 Dale Christensen, S23 Shane Best. DNS – T4 Sam Hughes

2010/2011 Carline Mufflers National Super Sedan Series progressive pointscore: Darren Kane 604, Jamie McHugh 537, Mat Pascoe 485, Lucas Roberts 426, Dave Gartner 400, Trent Wilson 351, Bill Miller 324, Kevin Purton 299, Darren Lester 285, Chris Albert 264, Des Korn 262, Brad Smith 260, Steve Jordan 256, Tony Barklimore 251, Michael Nicola 243, Ash Bergmeier 234, Jarrod Harper 230, Colin Hockley 219, Michael Hally 217, Shane Best 210, Dale Christensen 203, Sam Hughes 200, Lachlan Onley 182, Dave Mackenzie 171, Ron Pyne 116, Mark Pagel 110, Jason Campbell 109, Graeme Elliott 105
 
For the latest updates and information, visit the series website  www.nationalsupersedanseries.com  or phone 0410 500571.